


Nursing a Challenge

by PiscesDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Body Shots, Drinking, Drinking Responsibly Like Grownups, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Meet-Cute, Minor Matt Holt/Keith, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-01-15 06:44:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18493534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiscesDragon/pseuds/PiscesDragon
Summary: Shiro has surgery to upgrade his prosthetic and gets very loopy on the pain medication the doctor prescribed. His assigned nurse isn’t sure how to handle getting repeatedly hit on by a patient who’s high on painkillers but also unbelievably hot. Will Keith be able to resist the temptation? Or will his attraction to his patient win out?





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This brain worm was inspired by something on Twitter discussing 'drunk Shiro' fics... my mind took that trope and twisted it into something similar yet slightly different.
> 
> Really, I just felt like making Keith suffer a little :)
> 
> Also, I have absolutely no background in the medical profession, so I apologize for any inaccuracies or misinformation that is presented. This is fan fiction, not WebMD. I did my best!
> 
> Big thanks to [DropsOfAutumn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DropsOfAutumn/pseuds/DropsOfAutumn) for helping me edit this!

“Are you my boyfriend?” The patient slurred his words, groggy and still coming out of the  anesthesia .

Keith chuckled quietly to himself. He always loved seeing patients’ reactions right after surgery. It was usually pretty funny, although once in a while a patient would get mean or aggressive until the  anesthetic wore off. His  co -workers always seemed to find a reason to swap patients at that point, leaving him stuck dealing with the verbal abuse for a few hours. They claimed it was because he was so patient and didn’t let things bother him, but in reality Keith was sure it was because he was the most capable of restraining and manhandling people if they got too out of control. He might not  look like much, but under his scrubs years of martial arts training had honed lean muscle he put to use when necessary.

“No, I’m not your boyfriend, Mr. Shirogane,” Keith answered with a smile, glancing at the patient’s wristband to ensure he had used the correct name. He didn’t know if he believed in a god, but he was thankful to whatever entity was out there for assigning this particular patient to his responsibilities for the day. It was always nice to have a little eye candy around to brighten the rounds on the surgical recovery floor. Even hooked up to several machines and with a cannula in his nose to help regulate his oxygen intake, this man was attractive. Tall, square jaw, almond-shaped eyes and all muscle. Whoever the actual boyfriend was, he was a lucky man.

“You should be,” Mr. Shirogane said, looking at Keith with unfocused  grey eyes. 

Keith continued a careful check of his vital signs and marked the chart pulled up on his wireless tablet. He looked at the patient and said gently, “That’s very sweet of you, but I doubt your actual boyfriend would appreciate that.”

“He  could n’t be as gorgeous as you are.”

Keith knew he was blushing to the tips of his ears. Then again, maybe having such a hot patient wouldn’t be as much fun as he thought if the guy kept hitting on him until the  anesthesia wore off. Keith might have patience, but he was no saint. And he was certain this man would be a temptation to anyone with eyesight and a pulse.

“Mr. Shirogane --”

“My friends call me Shiro,” the patient interrupted. “But you can call me Takashi.” 

The way the man’s voice dropped and his mouth turned up at the corner made warmth pool low in Keith’s stomach and gave him the impression that only select people referred to him using his full first name. 

_ Ah, well. I’m going to hell anyway _ , Keith thought. “Well,  _ Takashi _ ,” he said as he leaned over to adjust the tubes laying on his patient’s chest, and yes,  _ maybe _ his voice dipped into the deeper rasp he usually used when he was flirting with someone at a bar, “I’ll be happy to do that if you’d like.”

Takashi made a little noise in the back of his throat that sounded suspiciously like a moan as he stared at Keith. “God,” he breathed. “You have the most beautiful eyes.”

The sound of a tinkling laugh echoing from behind startled Keith out of a response. He turned around to see a woman with long white hair standing just inside the doorway of the curtain dividers. She was taller than he was, wearing a light pink dress and a smile a mile wide. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said with some kind of accent that Keith  could n’t place. “They told me it was ok to come back now.”

“Oh, yeah,” assured Keith. “It’s fine. He’s just settling in now, and I’m about done in here for a while.”

Keith quickly gathered up his tablet and double checked the machines to make sure nothing was amiss. The woman moved over to his patient’s bedside. “Shiro, are you giving your nurse trouble already?” she laughed.

“Allura!” Takashi said, forcing his eyes to focus on the woman. “Isn’t he pretty? I want to keep him.”

Allura laughed and glanced at Keith, who once again  felt a blush warm his face. The patient really must have no shame. “He’s a little out of it from the painkillers,” Keith explained in a whisper. “He’ll snap out of it, eventually. Just  humor him.”

Allura nodded and then turned back to her friend and put her hand on his bicep, patting softly. “I don’t think that’s how it works, honey.”

Takashi stuck his lip out slightly in response.  _ Dear God, a man that hot should not be allowed to  _ _ look _ _ that cute when he pouts _ , thought Keith. He had to get out of here. This patient was going to kill him today, and he had only spent ten minutes with him. “Well, I’m going to head out. My name is Keith and I’ll be coming in to check on him about every hour or so. If he needs anything before I get back, there’s a call button here,” he said, pointing to the side of the bed. “Actually, let me move this over to the left. It won’t do him much good over there.”

With only one arm, the patient would be a little more reliant on the staff to help with mobility. Most patients were weak after surgery for a day or two. Keith wondered how long Takashi was scheduled to stay, and then immediately forced that out of his mind. Getting attached to a patient was a no go. 

He scurried around the bed, repositioning the call button and any other supplies that he might need.

“Keith,” Takashi whispered. Keith looked up from his fussing with the wires and tubing into serious  grey eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith said, giving him a sincere smile. Takashi sighed and closed his eyes with a grin. Keith gave Allura an amused  look which she answered with a crinkle-eyed grin and a chuckle under her breath. As he gathered his things and went to slip through the curtained doorway he said, “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Shiro!” He heard Allura admonishing before he  could get too far from the curtained partition. “You can’t hit on your nurse!”

Takashi must have responded with something Keith  could n’t hear because Allura’s next response was “I don’t care if he IS pretty!”

Keith  could n’t help but laugh all the way to his next patient’s room.

*****

When Keith got back to Mr. Shirogane’s room about an hour later, the man was still groggy and disoriented. Keith had expected him to be a lot more lucid, but he was still acting like he was on the world’s best acid trip.

“Keith!” Takashi shouted when he walked into the curtained partition. “Allura, Keith’s back!”

He sounded like an excited little kid, and Keith  could n’t help but grin at him. “I am. How are you  feeling ?”

“Better now that you’re here,” his patient sighed. Keith gave Allura a sideways  look and she shrugged.

Keith moved to the left side of his bed and put down the guardrail, trying his best to ignore the man’s advances. Sometimes it was just better to deal with these types of things by ignoring them and acting professionally. “How do you  feel about taking a little walk? We need to get you up and moving so you’ll recover more quickly from the  anesthesia . I’ll be right here to help you.”

Allura stood back to the other side of the room while Keith helped the patient shift up in the bed. He carefully repositioned the tubing and wires that were connected to his patient in various places, being extra careful not to tug at the catheter tubing. He secured everything to one mobile pole unit he would roll alongside the patient. Though Takashi still seemed to be out of it mentally, as he slid an arm around his back, Keith hoped he would be ok to move physically. The man was even more solid than he had realized. Keith could feel the firm muscle of his back rippling beneath one hand as he helped him to stand, and the firm abs beneath his other hand left little to the imagination. Takashi was solid muscle and a few inches taller than Keith, so if he started to slip, it would be a struggle for Keith to keep him upright. He probably should have gotten one of the other nurses to help with this, but it was too late now.

Takashi seemed steady on his feet and only a little wobbly as Keith kept an arm braced around his waist. His left arm draped over Keith’s shoulder, using him to help balance as they shuffled across the room to the chair where Keith would have him sit for a while. As he sat down in the chair, Takashi’s arm slid away from Keith’s shoulder and down his back. Keith gasped and made a startled jump as a large hand suddenly grabbed a handful of his ass.

“What the --” Keith said, turning his neck to  look down where Takashi’s hand had taken up residence on his backside. Allura dissolved into a fit of giggles across the room, her hand covering her mouth. He gave his patient a withering look and grumbled, “You can let go any time.”

Takashi looked at Keith and then at his hand as if it had somehow betrayed him. He gave Keith a bashful grin. “It’s so  _ nice _ .”

That hand was nice, too. Large. Strong. It made Keith think about how it might feel with less clothing, in other places…  _ Professional, be professional! _ he screamed internally.

Allura’s giggles got louder. “I’m so sorry! I swear he’s not usually like this,” she said.

“It’s ok. Patients always act a little out of character in recovery,” Keith responded, blushing bright red and trying desperately to treat the man just like any other patient. He looked at Takashi as sternly as possible while simultaneously trying to will his half-hard dick into submission. “Just don’t do it again.”

Takashi looked suitably chagrined and nodded. Again, Keith was struck by the fact that a man built like a marble statue of a god should not also have the ability to be so adorable. He was half hoping he would turn out to be an asshole when the pain meds wore off. In some ways, it would make his job a lot easier.

Keith found a blanket to sit over his patient’s lap and settled the wires and tubes into a suitable layout as he asked Allura, “Will you be the only visitor here for him today? He said something about a boyfriend…”

Allura’s jaw dropped in surprise. “When he woke up did he ask for --”

“You should be my boyfriend,” Takashi blurted. Just  _ once _ during the shift, Keith hoped to come into this room without turning red.

“Yeah, I guess it  _ was _ more of a solicitation than looking for someone specific,” Keith rolled his eyes. “Settle down, Takashi.”

Allura startled, her eyes going wide.

“What’s wrong? Is that not ok?” Keith said. “He asked me to call him that.”

“Oh. No, it’s… fine,” she replied. Then quickly added, “And there’s no boyfriend!”

“Just you, gorgeous,” Takashi said, looking up at Keith with a bright smile. Keith was willing himself not to melt on the spot. That smile  could do dangerous things to a man. How  could a guy like this be single? He must be a horrible person when he wasn’t out of it on painkillers. There was no other possible explanation.

“Shiro, really!” Allura said. “I am sorry. It’s funny, but I’m sure it’s not enjoyable for you, dealing with him like this. I’m the only one here to help him out today. We’re friends, but he has me listed as next of kin on his paperwork so he  could have someone here with him in the hospital during surgery and in case anything happened.”

“My family lives in Japan,” Takashi added helpfully. 

Keith nodded at him, moving around the chair to get ready to take his vitals. “Oh, that’s nice.”

They were quiet for a moment as Keith took measurements for blood pressure, pulse and pupil dilation. He didn’t like how slowly those stone- colored eyes responded and made a note in the tablet to check again during the next room visit. Afterward, he examined the respirator monitor, noticing it was a little elevated but nothing to be concerned with.

He looked down at his patient. “Are you ok to sit in the chair for a little while? Or do you think you  feel sleepy?”

“I’m OK,” Takashi answered. Keith was worried that his speech was still slightly slurred, but he knew that some patients took longer to burn off the  anesthesia than others. If he was still out of it when he came back, then Keith  could be concerned.

“Ok, I’m going to go check on a few other people and then I’ll be back,” Keith said, giving Takashi’s good shoulder a gentle pat. Takashi reached up and grabbed his hand. 

“Do you have to go?” he said in a small, childlike voice,  grey eyes going wide as he stared up at Keith. 

_ How do people say no to this man? _ Keith wondered, looking desperately at Allura. She was absolutely no help, just giving them both a soft, wondering  look .

“I’ll be back, Takashi. I promise.”

That seemed to placate him temporarily, so Keith reminded Allura about the call button (now secured to the patient’s chair) before leaving the room quietly.

*****

 

An hour later after covering the rest of his floor, it was almost a relief to escape to the break room and dig out his mediocre lunch from the fridge. Keith dropped into a chair with his sandwich, pulling out his phone to see what was new on social media to kill the time. There weren’t many people that he cared about enough to follow, so he quickly switched over to watching a few videos of martial arts techniques he was trying to master. As he was cleaning up and getting ready to head back to work, the silence was broken by his co-worker, Lance, throwing open the door with a flourish and loudly stomping into the room.

“I have never been so glad to get a break!” Lance exclaimed as he threw himself into a chair at the table Keith had just vacated. Keith had worked with Lance for a few years now and he could swear Lance said the same thing every time Keith ran into him in the break room.

“Rough day?” Keith had a few minutes to kill before his break was over, so he played along.

“People are crazy, man,” Lance complained. “I’ve got one woman today hitting her button every ten minutes like I’m here to be her personal servant. And another who’s got like twelve adult kids that are all here and crowding the room and being way too loud for the other patients. There is murder in my heart!”

“Just don’t say that too loudly near the administrators,” Keith smirked. “Getting suspended would really ruin your day.”

“Eh, they can bite me. What’s said in the break room, stays in the break room.”

“I’m heading back. Anything I need to know about any of my people?” Keith asked in passing, not really expecting to get any critical information from Lance. He’d check the tablet for updates when he went back to work. He watched Lance fight open a packet of ramen noodles and rummage in the cabinet for a clean bowl.

“You’ll probably want to start with Shiro. I started with him so it’s been the longest.”

Keith tried to sound uninterested. “You mean Takashi? Mr. Shirogane, right?”

“No, dude. He said he goes by Shiro.”

Huh.

“So how is he? I’m assuming he’s finally coming down off the meds. Or did he hit on you and then grab your ass, too?” Keith asked with a laugh. 

“What?!” screeched Lance, spinning around from his spot in front of the microwave with his jaw hanging open. “Dude, is that what he did with you? Oh my God, that’s hysterical!”

“N- n - n -no!” Keith stammered.

“You lie, he totally did,” Lance laughed while he pointed his fork at Keith. “Weird though. He wasn’t like that with me. And of the two of us, I’m clearly better looking.”

Keith rolled his eyes so hard his skull was a bowling alley. Lance wasn’t bothered by it though. “Did you see his friend though? Wow! She’s super hot!” he said. “I’m gonna find an excuse to stop back by that room before my shift is over so I can ask her out.”

Of course, Lance would take an interest in Allura. He tended to hit on every halfway attractive woman he came across. Once on a really slow day, Keith had witnessed him flirt with a patient’s grandma. Lance’s desire to seek attention just couldn’t be contained.

“You can’t do that, Lance,” Keith said. “It’s against the rules, remember?"

“Nope! She’s not a patient. There’s no rule against picking up hot family members. Only hot patients,” Lance said smugly, giving Keith a wink. “Sucks to be you, though, doesn’t it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Keith replied stubbornly. He was a professional. There was no way a ridiculously hot patient was going to rattle him. “Well, if he wasn’t inappropriate with you, he must be finally coming out of it then.”

“I don’t know. He seemed pretty loopy still. That’s weird, right? How long ago did he get out of surgery?”

“It’s been a few hours. I’ll check him first when I hit the floor.”

*****

 

“Has he slept at all?” Keith asked Allura, who was sitting in the chair with a magazine on her lap when Keith’s entered the room a couple of minutes later.

“No, he hasn’t. We were expecting him to be sleeping a lot today while in recovery. That’s normal, I believe?” she asked, her fingers fiddling with the pages of her magazine as her eyes focused on her friend on the hospital bed.

“Yeah, usually,” said Keith. “But every patient is different.” 

Allura made a comment about running out for a minute and he waved her away. It was important for family members to take breaks for themselves, too. Looking after someone in the hospital  could be very physically and emotionally stressful.    
  
He looked down at his patient, now lying in bed. He did a brief visual  check to make sure Lance had correctly placed all cords and tubes when he got the man back into the bed. Keith knew that Lance was a good nurse, and he trusted him, but this patient was ultimately his responsibility. It never hurt to double check things when he came back on the floor after a break. 

As he worked around the bed, Keith noticed the man’s eyes following his every move. That was probably a good sign. At least his vision must be getting clearer.   
  
He couldn’t help but notice that without the medical paraphernalia obscuring his face, the man looked even more attractive. He had a light scar running across the bridge of his nose, probably from an old injury. Keith had never been a fan of his own facial scar that ran down the side of his right cheek, but somehow this guy made it look _good_.

“Takashi, how are you  feeling ?” Keith asked with a smile.

“Itchy.”

“Really? What’s itching? Arms and legs? Or something else?” 

“Everywhere. My skin. It  feels gross. And itchy.” The guy still didn’t sound like he was back to a fully functioning adult yet. Unless this was normal? Keith checked his chart for any record of a pre-existing brain injury. Nothing was documented, but he would need to speak with his friend when she came back. Keith was beginning to get concerned that Takashi was having an adverse reaction to the pain blockers they had given him for surgery.

“Well, you aren’t cleared for a shower until the sutures around your new prosthesis connection port have healed. But we  could do a sponge bath in a bit. Do you think that might help you  feel better?” Keith asked. He made a note in the electronic chart about the new symptom.

“You know what would be fun?” Takashi said, his voice full of that innocent childlike wonder from earlier. “If I gave you a bath. With my tongue. Get you all dirty and then clean you up.”

Keith choked,  feeling for the first time in his life like he may have swallowed his  _ own _ tongue. And sweet God, it really had been a while, because Keith  could n’t argue with the fact it did indeed sound like a good time. If the guy had this level of game when drugged, Keith was damn curious what he would sound like when he was  _ trying _ .

Luckily for Keith, once he finished choking and was able to breathe again, Allura was back in the room. He wasted no time asking her to step outside with him for a minute.

“I need to ask,” he started. “Does Takashi seem to be back to normal to you? I’m trying to assess his responses, but I wasn’t sure if he was always so…” ( _ horny?)  _ “friendly.”

“No, certainly not,” Allura answered and grinned at him. “You seem to bring out the worst of his… baser instincts. I want to  apologize for him - he’s going to be mortified when he  realizes .”

Keith shrugged it off. “There’s no need to  apologize . It’s part of the job sometimes.”

“Well, that’s no excuse,” she huffed. “Is there anything that can be done? I’m starting to get worried that he’s not recovering the way he’s supposed to be.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. I’m going to contact his doctors to have them assess the situation. My guess is that his body isn’t correctly processing whatever meds they gave him. I’ll see what needs to be done and keep you updated.”

“Thank you,” Allura said, heading back into the room with her long white hair trailing behind her.

*****

 

Keith’s shift was almost over when he went in Mr. Shirogane’s room to do his last check for the night. One of the man’s doctors had called in to update his chart twenty minutes ago, adding in another medication that would hopefully offset the adverse effects of the  anesthesia that were still persisting in his system.    
  
The last two times he had been into the room had been no better than the others. The first involved yet another declaration by Takashi that they “should be together” with more commentary about how attractive Keith was. As much as he abhorred being referred to as “pretty”, for some preposterous reason he  could n’t help but find the man endearing. It also didn’t hurt that the many compliments were doing wonders for his at times flagging self-esteem.

The last time he had checked on the patient, he had thankfully been much quieter. However, Keith had made the mistake of getting within arms reach on his left side and been rewarded with a large hand chasing after his hair and caressing the strands he grasped between his fingers. After managing to pull his ponytail loose, his patient kept trying to reach out and touch the dark strands as Keith danced away out of reach.

In short, Takashi Shirogane was trying to kill him. He was systematically destroying any restraint Keith possessed for resisting an adorably handsome patient who had, through the power of painkillers, developed the superpower of persistent hypersexuality.

Keith had decided hours ago that if there was a God, it was really testing him.

“Have we met before?” Takashi asked as Keith slipped into the room one last time for the night. He was carrying a tray with the vial of the new medication and the syringe he would need to administer it. 

At the question, Keith looked up in concern, dark brows furrowing together. “What do you mean? Do you not remember me? I’ve been here all day, Mr. Shirogane.”

A flash of panic ran down Keith’s spine. Sudden memory loss  could signal any number of things, most of which were bad. Very bad. Before his brain  could begin to spin out into further medical assessments, the patient continued, “No… I know. I mean before today.”

“Oh,” Keith breathed a sigh. “No, I don’t think so.”

The ‘ _ I would definitely remember that _ ’ remained unvoiced in his own head while relief washed over him.

“Bet I saw you in my dreams,” Takashi said with a sly half-smile,  grey eyes shining up at Keith and crinkling in the corners.

Keith laughed, unable to stop himself. “Oh, really? Are you making jokes now? Or is that the best you can come up with?”

“Baby, I  could be the best you’ve ever had.” His voice was all deep, smooth confidence again, like a river of delicious Keith  could drown in. The sudden shift in demeanor hit Keith so hard he coughed again, his throat caught somewhere between a chuckle and a whine. Thank fuck his shift ended at ten, and the rest of his patients had been easy to deal with today.

Keith brushed off the innuendo and set about preparing the meds he needed to administer. With the syringe prepped and checked to be free of air bubbles, Keith explained, “Your doctor prescribed another medication to help your body process whatever  anesthetic is left in your system. This should make you  feel much better and help you get a little sleep tonight.”

Keith carefully stuck the needle in the port attached to Takashi’s hand and pressed in the plunger. It was a shame he wouldn’t be around to see what this guy was normally like. Keith was almost a little disappointed he’d be heading out soon.

Takashi settled back into the bed with a sigh and Keith lowered the head of the bed slightly so he  could rest easy, positioning the pillows so he would be comfortable. He didn’t see Allura anywhere, so he assumed she must have left for the evening some time ago. It only took a few minutes for his patient’s eyes to begin fluttering closed and his breathing to even out. The last he heard from him was the soft whisper of “Keith” on his lips as he quickly gathered up the tray he had brought in, checked the monitors, updated the chart and quietly snuck back out of the room.

He  could n’t dwell on just how much he liked hearing that man say his name.

There were rules.

And tomorrow, Keith would be on another floor of the hospital with a whole new set of patients. And he  could forget all about Mr. Takashi Shirogane.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's escape from his flirty patient doesn't go quite the way he'd planned. Although Takashi is acting more normal, but it doesn't seem to be making things any less awkward or embarrassing for either of them. They also find out they have a lot more in common than anyone would have expected.
>
>>   
> “It’s really fine,” Keith said with a smile. “It’s not the first time I’ve gotten hit on at work. Doubt it will be the last.”
>> 
>> “You must get that a lot,” Takashi said, looking slightly less flustered. He was fidgeting with the sheet over his lap as he watched Keith examine the machines next to the bed and take notes on the tablet.
>> 
>> “A little. Painkillers make people say a lot of crazy things.”
>> 
>> “No, I mean,” the man gave him a look that Keith didn’t understand, then waved his hand in the air in his direction and blushed. "You're just... really good looking." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DropsOfAutumn is super awesome for proofreading this fic for me!
> 
> I think I love this chapter :)

As it turned out, somebody somewhere had a cruel sense of humor. Keith wasn’t sure if it was the scheduling department or the hands of fate, but either way his escape from the hot, flirty patient was not going quite the way he expected.

One of the things Keith enjoyed about his workplace was that the nurses rotated to different floors and areas of the hospital on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis depending on their preference. This kept the nurses from spending too much time in high-stress environments that were likely to cause burnout. It also allowed them to expand their nursing skills dramatically by being constantly exposed to new people and treatments.    
  
Keith liked the idea of everyday being a little different, so his assignments changed every day. The downside was that once in a while this meant he would spend a number of days with the same patients, as they moved from post-surgery to recovery to short-term care. This happened so rarely it never occurred to Keith he might be seeing a certain Mr. Shirogane on his schedule when he got to work.

Keith sighed, looking over his list of patients on the short-term care floor where he would be spending the day. Most were new to him, but a couple of names (and one in particular) caught his eye. He was torn. On the one hand, part of him was curious about how the man was doing and if he’d ever regained his lucidity. Getting to look at that face for a few hours didn’t hurt either. 

On the other hand, Takashi’s friend had made sure to tell Keith he was single. And Keith was also very single. But trying to make a personal connection with patients, such as asking them out, was totally against the rules. 

_ Please let him be an asshole _ , Keith thought again as he headed to Takashi’s new room. He felt a little like a coward since he had stalled and checked all of his other patients first. He couldn’t avoid the dreaded temptation forever though.

Keith knocked on the open door before he entered the room, pulling up the patient’s chart on his tablet as he walked. When he looked up, his breath caught in his throat. Takashi looked better today.  _ A lot  _ better. So much better, in fact, Keith hadn’t realized it was possible for a patient to make a hospital bed look good.

It didn’t seem fair that a human being could be that beautiful.

Takashi was sitting up in bed, clear grey eyes staring at him from across the room. His hospital gown hung down from his neck just low enough to see a very defined collarbone. A nervous smile lit up his face as he ran his hand through his hair. The bedhead somehow worked for him, with the white floof at the front of his hair sticking up slightly. Keith’s fingers twitched with the sudden, impulsive urge to run his hands through it. He gave himself a mental smack, vowing to remain detached and professional.

He could do this. It’s not like he never had an attractive patient before. Maybe not quite this attractive, but still. He was an experienced nurse goddamit. He could get his shit together.

“How are you feeling today, Takashi?” Keith asked. The man startled a bit at his name, and as Keith got near the bed, he noticed a slight flush on the patient’s face. He made a mental note to check his temperature and make sure he wasn’t running a fever. “I’m sorry. Is it not ok to call you that? You asked me to yesterday. Do you remember me?”

Keith tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. Of course this guy wouldn’t remember him. He wasn’t anything special, after all.

“I - yes - that’s ok… Keith, right?” Takashi stuttered. “I recognize you. You’re about the only thing I remember from most of yesterday.”

Keith chuckled. “You were pretty out of it yesterday. That anesthesia they gave you really knocked you for a loop.”

The man’s flush darkened his face, making the pale scar across his nose stand out like a lightning bolt. “Allura was here this morning. She wouldn’t tell me any details, but she mentioned that I had completely embarrassed myself with my nurse after surgery. I think I owe you an apology?”

Takashi looked so chagrined that Keith took pity on him. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Do I even want to know what I said to you?” Takashi asked with a worried look.

Keith tried to think of the least embarrassing exchange they’d had the previous day as he checked the few monitors and machines Takashi was still hooked up to. Most of them had been removed over the last few shifts. He hoped he kept the blush off his face when he explained, “Mostly just a lot of wanting me to be your boyfriend.”

He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the man’s face turned an even darker shade of red and he hid it behind his hand. “Oh my God,” he groaned. “I’m so sorry!”

Keith was trying desperately not to find it so endearing that a man who looked so good could also be so easily embarrassed. He was suddenly very glad he didn’t share some of the  _ other  _ things he’d said the day before. He didn’t want to give the poor guy a heart attack.

“It’s really fine,” Keith said with a smile. “It’s not the first time I’ve gotten hit on at work. Doubt it will be the last.”

“You must get that a lot,” Takashi said, looking slightly less flustered. He was fidgeting with the sheet over his lap as he watched Keith examine the machines next to the bed and take notes on the tablet.

“A little. Painkillers make people say a lot of crazy things.”

“No, I mean,” the man gave him a look that Keith didn’t understand, then waved his hand in the air in his direction and blushed.

“I have no idea what you’re getting at,” Keith said, moving around the room to complete his checklist of procedures. He approached the bed and laid a hand gently on the man’s wrist, looking down at his watch. “I’m going to take your vitals now.”

“You’re just…” Keith felt the patient’s pulse quicken under his fingers. “Really good looking.”

Keith pulled his hand away and looked down at Takashi in shock. That was NOT what he was expecting.

“Sorry,” Takashi muttered, looking away. “You obviously already know that.”

On the contrary, it was disconcerting to hear such a confession from someone who didn’t want something from him - who wasn’t drunk in a bar or drugged in a hospital. No one had ever referred to him as attractive as if it was simply a fact that everyone must recognize. It made his stomach flip in strange, uncomfortable ways he didn’t know what to do with.

Keith picked his jaw up off the floor enough to answer, “Um… thanks, I guess?”

“Sorry,” Takashi said again. All the apologizing was making Keith very uncomfortable, so he tried again to fall back on his professional routine. He quickly finished up the items on his checklist and updated the chart on his tablet.

“Do you need anything before I go?” Keith asked. He silently gave himself permission to enjoy the view. It would be a couple of hours before he needed to come back, unless the patient called for assistance. He had a feeling Takashi might try to avoid any further chance of embarrassing himself today.

“No, thank you though. And for putting up with me. I’m sorry, again — “

“Takashi,” Keith said softly. He grasped the man’s hand and their eyes connected.  _ WOW _ . “It’s fine. Really.”

He watched as Takashi’s steel eyes seemed to melt and a shy smile erupted on his face.  _ I have to get out of here before I do something completely stupid _ , Keith thought.  _ Like kiss him until I can’t breathe. _

Because he wanted to. He really, really wanted to. What was it about this man? He’d never been tempted by a patient like this. Ever.

Keith pulled away, clearing his throat and reminding himself he had a job he wanted to keep. “I’ll be back in a while. You can use the call button if you need anything in the meantime.” He hoped he had managed to sound unaffected by their interaction and not like the twelve-year-old with a crush that he suddenly felt like.

“Thanks,” Takashi said with a smile as Keith all but ran out of the room.

It was going to be yet another difficult shift.

 

*****

“You should ask him out.” Keith heard from a female voice that sounded vaguely familiar as he approached Takashi’s room a few hours later. He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help himself. He slowly approached the door and hovered out of view behind it.

“Oh, yeah,” said Takashi to his visitor. “Great idea.”

Keith sensed that might be sarcasm.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m sitting in a hospital bed with one arm. I’m sure that’s every guy’s dream. Not to mention, I have no idea if he’s gay.”

Keith decided it was a good time to interrupt the conversation. He didn’t  _ know _ they were talking about him, but part of him wished they were. If he found out that was true, it was going to twist his stomach into even more knots. He really didn’t need that today.

He stepped around the door, tapping on it as he stepped into the room. And then stopped, completely frozen to the spot. 

“Oh, he’s totally gay,” the extremely familiar girl said, looking more smug than should be humanly possible. “Hey Keith!”

“Pidge,” he replied with a slight tremor in his voice and trying unsuccessfully to keep the shock off his face. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his day had just gone even farther off the rails. “How are you?”

“I’m good!” She answered, still grinning wildly.

“How do you two know each other?” Takashi asked breathlessly as his eyes jumped back and forth between them. He seemed just as surprised as Keith felt.

“I used to date her brother,” Keith answered quickly before Pidge took the opportunity to overshare. He hoped he managed to sound nonchalant. “A long time ago. And now we see each other at the gym a lot.”

“MMA,” she explained to Takashi. She turned to Keith with a smirk. “I’ve never seen anyone lay someone out on the floor like Keith. I bet he could even take you, Shiro!”

Keith felt his face warm at the compliment and the obvious innuendo Pidge was laying down. He noticed Takashi flush and squirm in the bed, trying to reposition himself one-handed. On instinct Keith moved over to help him, but Takashi froze when he saw him coming closer. Keith realized his discomfort might be from Pidge’s comments instead. Was it possible he  _ liked _ the idea of Keith being able to throw him around? Everything he found out about this guy only made him more perfect.

“Do you do martial arts, too?” Keith asked as he checked his tablet and started into his routine.

Takashi nodded. “I’m Japanese, and my grandfather was a sensei. He had his own dojo in Japan and I would visit and train every summer. And the rest of the year I did karate and jujitsu because my father was determined that I ‘carry on the family honor’ or something.”

“That’s cool,” Keith said honestly. It was interesting that Takashi had such a connection to the sport. Keith had gotten into martial arts as a child as a way to channel his aggression. One of his first foster families had put him in lessons hoping it would help him cope with his grief and anger. After that he had watched videos and taught himself a few things, until he had been old enough to make a little money and start taking classes again. Eventually it turned into a part-time job teaching kids the basics while he got through nursing school.

“I’m pretty out of practice. Since this,” said Takashi, waving toward his missing limb, “I’ve been hesitant to get back into it, for fear of hurting myself or someone else. Hopefully with the new prosthesis I’ll have better control and can get back into it. When I was younger, I never imagined I would miss it one day, but I do.”

“I’m sure it will all work out,” Keith said as he moved over to position himself on the patient’s right side.

“Yeah, Shiro, when you’re all healed up, you can come check out our gym,” said Pidge. Takashi’s heated gaze made Keith afraid of exactly what he was picturing. He had a pretty good idea only because the image of his patient, bare chested and glistening with sweat, plowed into his brain making him lose his train of thought.

“Yeah,” Takashi murmured. “That might be good.”

“Ok,” Keith said, more to himself than the others in the room, attempting to refocus on his work. “I just need to check on your sutures and this new connector implant to make sure there are no issues so far.”

He pulled on latex gloves and then gently began to lift the bandage around the patient’s right shoulder. Once he got it removed, he pressed lightly around the surgical site, trying not to cause pain while he tested the coloring and responsiveness of the skin. He watched it turn white and then quickly fade back to pink when he moved his finger. Good - so far there were no issues with his circulation.

As he finished up his work and replaced the bandages and gauze, Takashi said cautiously, “So… you dated Matt, huh?”

_ Oh, no, _ Keith thought. _ I really don’t want to get into this story. _

He couldn’t help but be curious how Takashi knew both Pidge and Matt. Keith knew he hadn’t grown up nearby because if he had, they would have been in school together. “Yeah. In high school,” Keith replied blandly. “How do  _ you _ know Matt?”

“Oh, we were roommates in college.”

_ This could get awkward really fast _ , Keith thought. He prayed that he wasn’t about to find out they had both slept with the same guy at some point. Pidge looked on from the corner clearly enjoying the show but keeping her mouth pursed closed like she was trying to physically restrain herself from interfering. Keith prayed her strength would hold.

“Like  _ roommates  _ roommates?” Keith couldn’t keep himself from asking. “Or ‘we’re dating from the closet’ roommates?”

A boisterous laugh erupted from Takashi and echoed in the room. “Regular roommates! God, no! I would never have dated him. Matt is…” he stopped, looking at Pidge for help but she only shrugged in response, a big grin on her lips. Takashi smiled fondly. “Well, you’ve met Matt.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile back. “Matt can be… a lot.”

“Yeah, I love him, but yes,” Takashi laughed. “Wait! Does that mean  _ you’re _ the kid that broke his heart in high school?”

Keith frowned. “I don’t know about that…”

Pidge cackled, finally breaking her vow of silence. “Yes, that’s totally him!”

“Oh my God!” Takashi cried. “You’re a living legend!”

“What??” This was all quickly becoming too much for Keith’s brain to process.

“To this day you are the only person to ever break Matthew Holt,” Pidge intoned as if she was reading a royal declaration. Keith gave them both a thoroughly confused look. While he ran into Pidge all the time and they had remained friends, he hadn’t seen Matt in years. They had broken up (amicably he’d thought), Matt went to college, and that was that.

“Our first year of college, every guy he dated had long dark hair,” Takashi explained. “I thought it was a kink or something until Pidge showed me a picture of the three of you once. I think he compared everybody he dated to you - and nobody was ever good enough. Matt could find a fault with everyone. For the first almost three years of college, he couldn’t seem to date anyone long term. As his roommate-slash-unpaid psychologist, I spent a  _ lot  _ of time talking him through his issues.”

Keith’s brain couldn’t even begin to process this information. Matt had been hung up on him for  _ years _ ? How was that even possible? He’d always assumed Matt was smart enough to recognized he could do a lot better than Keith.

“You probably owe Shiro dinner or something,” Pidge said with a wink. Takashi grinned and nodded in agree ment .

The errant thought that Shiro could have just about anything he wanted from him flitted through Keith’s mind.  To distract himself, he looked up at the clock and realized he was WAY behind on doing his rounds, having spent twenty minutes more than necessary in this particular patient’s room.

“Holy shit,” blurted Keith. He slapped a hand over his mouth, completely forgetting he was at work. “Guys, I can’t talk about this now. I’m so behind. I’ve got to go. Takashi, do you need anything?”

Pidge gave him a quizzical once-over and then turned it on her friend. “ _ Takashi _ , huh?” she said meaningfully.

Takashi’s ears turned red, and Keith asked, “Why do all of your friends act like that’s a big deal?”

“It’s not,” he answered quickly. “It’s fine.”

Pidge looked smug again, but Keith had no time to stick around and dig into it. He was hoping that none of his other patients had been calling for him while he was distracted. If one of the other nurses had to cover his rooms, he was going to hear about it, probably loudly and repeatedly. He couldn’t blame them. He also hated it when his co-workers disappeared and left him to pick up the slack.

“Ok, I’ll be back later. Use the button if you need something.”

Keith moved very quickly through the door but not fast enough to miss Pidge’s voice claim with certainty, “You are totally going to marry that man.”

The flutters were back in his stomach as he raced down the hall.

 

*****

The rest of Keith’s shift sped by. He had a couple of patients who were high needs and didn’t have any visitors around to help them out, so he spent most of the evening with them. He also had one patient take a turn and code on him, so that took some time to deal with. Luckily, the nursing team had gotten there quickly to intervene and the patient was alright. It wasn’t totally out of the ordinary on this floor, but it didn’t happen as regularly as when he worked in recovery or the ER. Keith didn’t mind dealing with emergencies - in some ways he enjoyed it - but he was still glad that he didn’t have to do it every single day. 

By the time he had been able to do a quick check in on his other patients, Takashi had already been asleep. It was nine o’clock at night, and Keith was aware the poor guy probably hadn’t gotten a lot of rest the previous day since the pain medication had been keeping him alert. He turned one light on the lowest setting so that he could see what he was doing, taking notes on his tablet as he worked. When he was finished updating the chart, Keith took a moment to gaze at Takashi in the bed. 

He looked like a little boy, curled up on his left side with his arm tucked under his head and his knees bent. His face was relaxed as he slept peacefully. And it was such a nice face. For the first time in his life, it crossed Keith’s mind that this was a face he could admire forever. Combined with the memory of Pidge’s overheard declaration to Takashi like she was some kind of oracle, his thoughts scared the hell out of him.

There was no reason to be thinking these things. He barely even knew the guy after all. But he seemed nice. Really nice. And nice guys, who were built like Adonis, did not just fall out of the sky every day. They even had some friends in common, which was a strange coincidence – but would also make getting to know each other a lot easier.

Like a light switch being flipped in his brain, Keith realized he  _ wanted  _ to get to know this man.    
  
He was actually interested in learning more about him, what he liked to do, his favorite shows or what music he listened to. Keith hadn’t felt that way about anyone in a long time. After Matt in high school, he’d had a couple of long-term relationships. But no one had ever held his interest for more than a few months, probably because Keith hadn’t really had much interest in the person to begin with. He had just gone along with the relationship for something to do or because he thought it was what he should want.

Yet somehow in just a couple of days, Takashi had intrigued him. Looking at him he didn’t just see the potential of one night - although he had little doubt that would be spectacular. He wanted to  _ know  _ him. And it made him nervous.

Relief that Takashi was asleep rushed through him. Keith wouldn’t have the opportunity to do anything stupid. Most likely he wouldn’t have the chance to do anything at all. His shifts over the next two days were in the ER, and he had picked up some weekend shifts on the geriatric floor after taking pity on a coworker that needed to attend a wedding. Neither of those places would bring him anywhere near this patient. He had no idea when Takashi would be released, but he expected it would be within the next few days. 

The chances of never seeing him again were pretty high. They had gone this long without ever meeting before, and he didn’t know where the man lived or worked but it was probably on the other side of the city.

_ Maybe it’s for the best _ , Keith thought. He was just an average guy, an average nurse - nothing special. Takashi seemed like the kind of person that deserved a whole lot more than average. With one last wistful glance at his patient, Keith turned off the light and walked through the doorway to do his paperwork and finish up his shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos always welcome!


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has been suffering for weeks over the patient he can't stop thinking about. He gets dragged out to a bar for a much needed night out and finds everything he ever wanted and more...
>
>>   
> “What the hell are you doing just talking?!,” Lance hissed into his ear. “Have you seen that guy?? I’m not gay and even I’d probably do him!”  
> “I’m not sure he’s interested,” Keith muttered as Lance led him up a set of dark, narrow stairs.   
> Lance huffed and shook his head, “Really? Because he totally looks like he’s checking out your ass right now.”  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the new tags!! The boys get a little crazy!
> 
> Thanks to DropsOfAutumn for proofreading this for me! Go check out her fic "You Had Me At Meow" - it's sooo cute!

It had been three weeks since Keith had seen Takashi Shirogane.

But he could not seem to get him out of his mind.

He had been kept busy with work, and many of his shifts lately had been on high needs floors – which meant that he’d also not been able to get to the gym as regularly as he usually would. The last few weeks he had been too tired to exercise after work and afraid to go before for fear of wearing himself out and being exhausted during his shift. 

He had managed to go and spar only a few times, and although a piece of Keith was hoping he might run into Pidge, he hadn’t seen her. At first he had considered that lucky, since he had a feeling she might decide to try to set him up with her friend. But now he was beginning to change his mind.

He wondered how Takashi was doing. That alone was new. Very rarely did his concern for his patients go home with him, especially when they weren’t on life support. Keith prided himself on professional detachment, and when he couldn’t do that, he used the gym as a way to work out his frustrations. Lately though, it seemed his frustrations lay in other areas.

For one thing, the number of dreams he was having had increased dramatically.  Normally, Keith was so worn out from his day that he slept like the dead, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and not moving until morning. Yet over the last couple of weeks he’d had vivid dreams, sometimes even able to remember pieces of them after waking. And of course, they weren’t just regular dreams – but fantasies that had him waking up painfully hard. Not the normal morning wood that could be ignored. No, Keith had been dealing with the I’m-going-to-die-if-I-don’t-deal-with-this-and-a-cold-shower-isn’t-going-to-cut-it level of suffering. 

He had not spent this much time jerking off since he was a teenager, and it was getting old - fast. Running to the shower with a crushing need between his legs so that he didn’t make a mess all over his bed was not the way he liked to start his morning. And there was only one person to blame for it.

Takashi.

A month ago his sex drive had not been running rampant. A month ago, on the rare occasions when he did have hot dreams, the guys were faceless bodies or maybe a celebrity from the show or movie he was watching before bed. (Captain America was a personal favorite recurrent fantasy.) 

Now the star of his nightly perversions had steel-grey eyes, a scar across his nose and short dark hair with a tuft of white in the front – that apparently he subconsciously wanted to grab like a handlebar from a number of different positions. Although mildly disappointing at the time, Keith was incredibly relieved that he had not been the nurse providing the sponge bath for Takashi during his hospital stay. He feared it would have only provided more fuel for his brain to torture him with. It was bad enough having only briefly felt the hard muscle the man carried around on his tall frame. Visuals might have caused enough mental corruption to have him changing his sheets every day like he was thirteen again.

The problem was how to make it  _ stop _ .

Keith’s first impulse was to hit a bar after work, find a decent looking guy and hope he was good enough in bed to burn the fantasies out of his head. It was a solid plan. Except it just didn’t seem as appealing as it used to be when he got desperate for physical human touch other than his own. Not to mention one night stands always left him feeling empty and somehow  _ less _ . Using someone and being used didn’t make him feel very good about himself.

He also briefly considered calling Pidge to get Takashi’s number. Maybe the key to getting past this whole mess was to go out once, figure out he wasn’t as wonderful as Keith had somehow built him up in his mind to be and move on with his life. 

His hangup was that Pidge was also Takashi’s friend - and if he had really been interested in Keith, he could have gotten ahold of his number and contacted him just as easily. That definitely hadn’t happened. Keith was sure he hadn’t even gotten any calls from random numbers lately. So obviously Takashi had not gone to the trouble of getting his number from Pidge.

Which could only mean Takashi wasn’t really interested. He had simply been high and horny on pain meds. It made sense - drugs made people do crazy things. Just because they were taken legally didn’t mean there couldn’t be side effects.

Keith had to face the fact - the hottest guy he’d ever seen was out of his league. No surprise there. He was just going to have to find a way to deal with it.

Over the next two weeks, Keith made sure to work in more time at the gym, but strangely he still hadn’t run into Pidge. He figured it was either fate or she was avoiding him so he didn’t ask about her friend. There were a few days when he paid for it at work – lifting and turning people wasn’t easy when he had fought hard the night before and had bruises and sore muscles to deal with. But it  _ did _ help him burn off some extra energy and get a few nights of restful sleep. He assumed he was doing better, but his mood must not have improved with the extra exercise as much as he thought.

“Don’t shoot,” Lance said as he walked into the break room one day, spotted Keith, and promptly held his hands up in surrender.

“What the hell, Lance,” Keith grumped, picking up his things to go back to the floor.

“You have been an Irritable Irma lately, bro,” Lance said as he dropped into a chair and opened a magazine on the table.

“No, I haven’t,” Keith quickly denied, but then hesitantly added, “... Have I?”

“Dude, you made Jennifer cry the other day because she covered your rooms over your lunch and forgot to restock the gloves.”

Keith’s eyebrows wrinkled together. “Oh, God. Really?”

“Yeah, really. I suggested you need to get laid, and hand to God, I had five people volunteer to take up a collection for an escort.” Keith’s flush of embarrassment must have encouraged Lance because he continued, “You just say the word, and we will hook you up, my man.”

“NO,” Keith responded quickly. He wasn’t that desperate. Well, he was, but he wasn’t going to pay for it. He might be average, but he’d never had a problem finding company when he wanted it.

“So that IS the problem,” Lance smirked. He lifted his index finger up to his mouth in thought. “You know, I think I’ve got just the solution. Are you working tomorrow night?”

“No,” Keith answered warily. Lance was looking a little too innocent to be trusted. “Friday’s my day off this week.”

“Mine too! You need to come out with us,” Lance said, excited and wiggling around slightly in his seat. “Me and a few friends are going to that new club on the east strip. _The_ _Castle_ , I think it’s called?”

“I don’t know, Lance,” Keith hedged. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do. And he and Lance were sort of friends. It wouldn’t be the first time they hit the bar together. He might luck out and meet someone. If nothing else, Lance was a great dancer and didn’t mind joining him on the dance floor, if as Lance phrased it ‘the ladies weren’t taking his bait’. 

“You’re coming,” Lance stated as if the decision had already been made.

It could be fun. “Maybe.”

“Definitely. I’m picking you up at nine, because I don’t trust you to bail and not show up.”

“We’ll see.” With that concession, Keith and Lance were both well aware he was going to go, but Keith wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of saying ‘yes’ outright.

“And dress sexy,” Lance said with a wink. “I’ve got a good feeling you’re gonna meet somebody.”

“Sure,” Keith said sarcastically, tossing the comment over his shoulder as he pulled open the break room door and went back to work.

He was almost - maybe - looking forward to it.

 

*****

True to his word, after a stream of badgering text messages to ensure he didn’t back out, the following evening Lance had picked up Keith and whisked him away for a night out.

“You actually clean up pretty good, man,” Lance said, taking a good look at Keith as they walked together toward the main entrance of the club. 

“Thanks, I guess?” Keith replied. He had on a clingy v-neck shirt that was silky to the touch and a rich reddish-purple color that made his eyes look violet. Skinny black jeans and dark grey combat boots rounded out the outfit. Keith didn’t think he looked much different from normal, but then again Lance mostly saw him in baggy scrubs. Compared to those, wearing basically anything else was a huge fashion improvement.

“Would it have killed you to do something about the mullet thought? Get a haircut already!” snarked Lance.

Keith ran a hand nervously through his dark strands, wondering if he should have worn it differently. It was nice not to have to wear it pulled back for once, so he’d left it wild after his shower, letting the longer pieces around his face and shoulders curl up at the ends. It was easier than fighting with it. Besides, Keith figured any guy he met would see his hair long and loose at the end of the night anyway if he was lucky.

That was the whole point of Lance making him come to this place after all.

As they entered  _ The Castle _ , and Keith was struck by the juxtaposition between the building’s exterior and what lay inside. While they had walked into a nondescript towering office building, they were now inside what looked like a spaceship. Flashing and moving rainbow lights reflected off of the smooth white walls lining every surface. Hologram projections hung suspended in the air, showcasing special events and options located on different floors of the club. A large open staircase led up to the main floor where the bar and dance floor was located. Keith could hear dance music with a heavy beat carrying down to their level. Everything was modern and sleek with curved lines, making it somehow look both clean and comfortable from every angle. Lance was texting on his phone as they climbed the stairs, almost stumbling on the last step.

“Watch it,” Keith warned, throwing out a hand to catch him by the arm. This floor was darker, but the rainbow lights helped illuminate a path to the bar. He had to shout a little to be sure Lance could hear him over the music. “So are we getting drinks first or what?”

Before Lance could answer, a haze of white fluff shot across in front of him, moving a lot faster than they probably should have been in such a crowded place. “Lance!” He heard a high-pitched squeal coming from the blob before it barreled into his friend.

“Hey-ya Princess!” Lance said cheerfully as he caught the woman in his arms. Keith assumed he was hidden somewhere behind the mass of white hair. The owner of said hair turned around to stand next to Lance, both of them looking at him with wide grins. The woman looked vaguely familiar…

“Keith, right?” She said in a lilting accent that he knew he’d heard before.

“Keith, you remember Allura?” Lance said loudly. “From the hospital? I told you I was going to ask her out!”

It took Keith a moment to place her, especially since he knew she had not been an actual patient. Those he tended to remember a little more easily.

“Oh, yeah! How are you?” Keith answered after a few seconds. He gave Lance a sharp look. “I didn’t realize you were meeting someone here. This isn’t your  _ first _ date, I hope.”

Regret at letting Lance talk him into this tore through him. Rolling out as the third wheel was not his idea of a good time.

“Dude. We’ve been going out for a few weeks,” Lance explained as if Keith was a simpleton. “And she came here for you - with her  _ friend _ .”

It took a few seconds for Keith to make the connection between why Lance was emphasizing that word and exactly who Allura would want him to meet. No… they couldn’t possibly have… 

“Keith?” A rich, baritone voice he would remember anywhere rang out behind him. He spun around into a square jaw and had to look up slightly to see the rest of the handsome face he was expecting.

“Takashi…“ He wasn’t sure if the man even heard him over the din of the bar, and he knew he hadn’t kept the surprise out of his voice. 

Takashi definitely looked a lot better than the last time Keith had seen him almost two months ago. His pale, somewhat weak demeanor was gone and in its place was a man who held himself tall and confident. His white tee was just tight enough to show off the curves of every muscle that lay beneath without being obscene, and his dark wash jeans clung to his thighs. A rosy blush sat high on his cheeks, and Keith assumed he’d already had a few drinks. Takashi’s hair was artfully tousled with the white crop in front dropping just into his face and remembering what it looked like after he slept had Keith fighting the urge to muss it up. 

The man was an absolute meal, and Keith wanted to devour him.

He swallowed the saliva that was pooling in his mouth. Never in his life had he felt so out of control around someone. Takashi seemed to make all of his primal instincts take over. Keith hunted around in his brain for words that would make him sound like a somewhat normal person and not the sex-starved maniac he feared he was.

“How are you?” Keith asked, finding his voice again as the vision on legs stared silently down at him. He wondered if Takashi had been blindsided by this meeting as well or if he had known Keith was coming. Was it possible he had  _ wanted _ to see him?

“I’m good! Much better than the last time you saw me, obviously.” He laughed nervously.

“I see you got some new hardware,” Keith supplied, gesturing to the man’s right arm. It was brushed metal, sleek, and extremely state-of-the-art from what Keith could tell. The shine of it reflected the pulsing rainbow lights of the club, making it sparkle and throwing colors all over Takashi’s face.

Takashi held out his arm, looking at it as he flexed his fingers into a fist and then straightened them back to their relaxed state. “Yeah. It’s been working out so well I almost forget it’s still so new.”

“That’s great,” Keith said with a smile he couldn’t contain. “I’m glad everything worked out well for you.”

“Thanks,” Takashi smiled, and Keith was stunned by how relaxed he felt, how easy this was. He was never this comfortable talking to people he barely knew. “Do you want to get a drink? I came over to ask Allura if she needed a refill, but now I think she’s run off again.”

Keith looked back to see Lance had disappeared as well. No surprise. He had absolutely been set up. But considering the company he’d been left with, Keith had no desire to complain.

“Yeah, might as well. I think our friends have abandoned us,” he said with a grin to let Takashi know he wasn’t at all bothered by that development.

Takashi ran his hand into the hair along the back of his head and then gestured to the other side of the room. “The bar’s this way,” he said, holding out a hand indicating that Keith should take the lead.

The bar was packed and Keith was expecting it to take a while to get their drinks. He quickly realized being tall and amazingly attractive had additional perks. After asking what Keith wanted to drink, Takashi needed only to tower over the person in front of him at the bar and wave to the woman working behind it. She rushed right over to take his order with a flustered smile, and within minutes Keith had a rum and Coke in hand.

“I could have gotten mine,” Keith said after Takashi had paid for the drinks and tipped the bartender.

He shot Keith an extremely sexy grin. “You can get next.”

Keith held up his glass in reply to clink it with Takashi’s. It was promising that he already assumed there would be a second round.

“What the hell are you drinking anyway?” he asked, eyeing the pink concoction in his glass.

“I’m not sure,” Takashi answered, leaning close so he didn’t have to shout over the noise of the bar. “It’s whatever the special is tonight.”

“What’s it called?” Keith asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Suck, Bang and Blow,” Takashi answered slowly, steel eyes looking at him seriously while his mouth fought a smirk and lost.

Keith just managed to not spit his drink all over Takashi’s white shirt, swallowing hard and coughing. Hiding his reaction was out, so he just went for it. He leaned in and angled his mouth toward Takashi’s ear. “Sounds like fun.”

Completely unflustered, Takashi replied, “You’re not wrong.”

“So,” Keith said before his primitive brain could spend too much time contemplating the words “suck”, “blow”, and “Takashi” in the same sentence, “How did you get roped into coming tonight? Allura doesn’t seem to be hanging out with you much.”

“Oh, well she seems to think if I’m left to my own devices I’d do nothing but hang out with my cat,” Takashi said. He took a long drink from his glass and Keith admired the stretch of his pale neck.

“Homebody, huh?”

“Yeah,” Takashi answered as his eyes scanned the crowd around the room. “I tend to like things a little more quiet. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to meet someone decent in a  _ bar… _ ”

Keith’s face must have shown some offense at that because Takashi rushed to continue, “I don’t mean YOU! It’s not like I met you here! We met at the hospital.”

Keith downed the rest of his drink and fought off the urge to be insulted. Takashi  _ was _ hanging out with him instead of trolling the bar for someone better, so that had to count for something.

“That’s true. Do you need another drink?” He asked, pointing at the nearly empty glass surrounded by metal fingers. He smirked. “Want more of the same?”

“Sure.”

Keith wove his way through the crowd and squirmed into an empty spot against the bar. The woman from before was at the other end of the counter, but there was another bartender not too far from him. It took a few minutes to get the guy’s attention and Keith figured he’d better double up his order. It only seemed to be getting more crowded as the night went on.

After getting their drinks and paying, Keith wished he’d had the sense to bring Takashi with him. Carrying a drink along with a shot in each hand, he held them above his head as he wove back through the crowd the way he came.

_ Finding a beautiful man-tower shouldn’t be this hard _ , he thought. On his tiptoes he scanned the top of the crowd, looking for Takashi’s white floof of hair. He didn’t see him standing around so he moved closer to the dance floor and was met with a most unexpected sight. 

Takashi was dancing.

He was moving along to the music, hips swaying to the beat and muscular arms pumping above his head. His white t-shirt had ridden up as he lifted his shoulders, making visible a few inches of creamy landscape. His pants were sitting low enough that, with the shirt out of the way, Keith could see the shadows of his obliques creating the tops of a tempting “V” above each of his hips as he moved.

Takashi was all curved lines, hard muscle and smooth moves as he danced with his eyes half closed, clearly caught up in the music.

All the air in Keith’s lungs left in a rush and he couldn’t catch his breath.  _ Holy shit _ , he thought _. _

He could see there were others clearly just as interested in Takashi as he was. Surrounded by a group of girls, Keith watched as a couple of them were being a little braver. Small feminine hands were reaching up to run softly over Takashi’s pecs and shoulders. Keith couldn’t really fault them - if he hadn’t been stuck with two hands full of drinks he would gladly be fighting them for the honor. As it was, he knew Takashi wasn’t interested in the women. And he was a big boy ( _ God _ \- was he) and could take care of himself.

So Keith took a few minutes to just stand back and enjoy the show.

Right until he saw a tawny-skinned man who was almost as tall as Takashi slide up behind him. The minute the man grabbed for Takashi’s waist and started to dance up against his back, something roared inside Keith. His jealousy propelled him forward, toward the dance floor.

“Takashi!” Keith said as he waved for the man’s attention once he got close enough.

Takashi’s eyes flew open. As soon as he saw Keith, he quickly moved toward him and reached out to take some of the glasses he’d been holding. “Sorry!” he said.

“No problem.”

“I love that song,” Takashi explained with a shy smile. A blush rose high on his cheeks, making him look completely adorable. “I couldn’t resist.”

“I would have joined you, but I had my hands full,” Keith laughed.

“Shots?” questioned Takashi, holding one of the smaller glasses up to peer into the liquid.

“It’s just rum,” Keith said. “Hope that’s ok? I figured the bar was busy enough we wouldn’t want to fight our way back right away.”

Takashi smiled. “Yeah! That’s fine. Cheers!”

They tapped their glasses together and quickly shot the rum, each of them chasing it with a sip of their other drink. Takashi took Keith’s empty shot glass and sat it with his on an empty table nearby.

“You seem to be feeling pretty good,” Keith commented with a small smile, pulling Takashi farther away from the dance floor so they could talk without shouting at each other.

Steel eyes shined down at him, and Keith could see the flickering lights reflected in them. Takashi chuckled, “You sound like you’re at work and checking up on me.”

Keith blushed and ducked his head, recovering quickly to ask, “Well, you know what I do. What do you do for a living? Model?”

Takashi’s deep laugh poured out of him as he threw his head back in hysterics. With his mouth open in a smile and his eyes crinkled closed in laughter, Keith couldn’t help but stare. God, he was beautiful.

“Um, hell no,” Takashi finally calmed down enough to answer. “I think my nonexistent dream of a modeling career came to an end when I got the scar on my face and this.”

He held up his prosthetic hand in front of him and Keith couldn’t resist taking it into his own. There was no way that this man should ever feel like he was less than perfect just because one of his arms happened to be metal.

“The scar makes you look kind of badass,” Keith said with a smirk. Takashi’s hand was fidgeting with Keith’s fingers where their hands met, his cool metal index finger stroking along the knuckles softly. Butterflies swarmed in Keith’s stomach at the touch.

“You think?” Takashi asked. Keith could swear there was insecurity behind the gorgeous grey eyes. He did his best to give a reassuring look as he nodded. “Well, to answer your question, I’m an avionics engineer.”

Keith hummed, “Sounds impressive.” 

Takashi must have been able to tell he had no idea what the job involved because he clarified, “I work on aircrafts - mainly upgrading and replacing communication equipment. But I’ve got a background in mechanics too, so sometimes I get to play with the engines.”

“That’s cool,” said Keith. “How did you get into that?”

“I joined the Air Force straight out of high school,” explained Takashi. He took a long drink from his glass and then swirled it, watching the liquid spin for a moment. “I trained as a mechanic, but I really wanted to be a pilot… “

As he trailed off, Keith connected the dots that the change in Takashi’s career path had something to do with the injuries he had obviously endured at some point. He sensed the taller man didn’t want to talk about it.

“So do you work at the airport then?” Keith asked, giving him an opportunity to avoid discussing anything more personal.

“Yeah,” Takashi answered with a smile. “Although I’m still in the reserves, so once in a while I’ll get called over to the base in Garrison to help out with the combat planes.”

“I thought about going into the service,” Keith admitted. “I could have become a medic and had school paid for, which would have been nice. But I’ve never really been great with taking orders or dealing with authority.”

“And yet now you have to work with doctors? I thought they had a reputation for being the profession with the biggest egos?”

Keith laughed. “Yeah, sometimes. But it’s not that bad. And it’s a lot easier to follow directions from someone when a person’s life or health is on the line. I guess it’s easier for me to set aside my own bullshit for someone else.”

“Taking orders just for the sake of it doesn’t appeal to you,” Takashi stated with a nod of respect.

“Yeah, I guess that’s it.” Keith finished his drink and leaned over to set it on the shelf along the wall. He looked back at Takashi, who seemed to be examining him like a puzzle. Never one to back down from a challenge, Keith gazed back, wondering if the man would comment when he found whatever he seemed to be looking for in Keith’s face.

“There you are!” Lance’s voice suddenly cut through the noise of the club, interrupting the staring contest they’d been having. “What are you guys doing?”

Takashi shrugged. “Just chatting.”

Lance didn’t seem impressed. “Ok, well Allura wanted me to come find you. She went upstairs. Come with us!”

He grabbed Keith’s hand and took off toward the side of the room, not bothering to see if Takashi was following behind. When he’d gotten a few strides ahead, Lance threw his arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulled him against his side with a frown. “What the hell are you doing just talking?!,” Lance hissed into his ear. “Have you seen that guy?? I’m not gay and even I’d probably do him!”

“I’m not sure he’s interested,” Keith muttered as Lance led him up a set of dark, narrow stairs. 

Lance huffed and shook his head, “Really? Because he totally looks like he’s checking out your ass right now.”

Keith pushed his shoulder into Lance playfully. 

“Yeah, OK,” he said sarcastically. He shot a quick glance behind to see Takashi following them. He  _ did _ seem to be looking at him as he walked up the stairs. Was it possible that someone so nice AND unbelievably attractive could be interested in  _ him _ ?

Maybe he’d already had too much to drink if he was becoming delusional.

As they hit the landing for the next floor, Keith was assaulted by the hedonistic visual laid out before them. The music from the dance floor below was pumping with a heavier bass beat from the speakers on this level. Small bar height tables were spread out around the room with a circular bar set up in the middle, and people were gathered around the tables in various states of undress. He followed Lance like an obedient puppy as they wove through the crowd, and Keith tried not to look too long in any  direction . Hands, mouths, tongues, and skin were everywhere. 

They reached a table in the corner where Allura stood smiling. On the table Keith could see a tray of shots along with a small bowl of salt and a plate of lime wedges.

“They have a whole floor set up for  _ body shots _ ?” Takashi questioned. His voice was pitched a little higher than usual and he looked nervous. Allura smiled at him wickedly.

“Yes, Shiro,” she cooed, her voice syrupy sweet. “Isn’t it fun?”

Keith was suddenly glad he’d had a couple of drinks downstairs. It wasn’t something he would normally be totally comfortable with, but he couldn’t deny the thought of putting his mouth on Takashi (or vice versa) sounded  _ amazing _ .

“I’m game if you are,” Keith said to Takashi with a grin. Takashi swallowed hard and Keith stared at the movement of his Adam’s apple. He really wanted to lick it. 

He settled for wetting his lips instead.

Takashi made a whining sound in the back of his throat. “I’ll go first,” he breathed. Allura’s laugh tinkled in the background, but Keith couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man in front of him.

“Ok,” Keith smiled, holding his arms out to the side like he was an offering for the god-like man. “Where do you want the salt?”

Once Takashi committed to an activity, it would seem he went all in. His heated gaze locked onto Keith. It made heat bloom low in his stomach, obliterating any nerves that were fluttering there moments before. Maybe the guy was  _ a lot _ more interested than Keith thought. Takashi raised his flesh hand and ran his index finger slowly down the side of Keith’s neck and across his collarbones. Electricity surged under his skin from the touch and shot straight down to his groin.

“I like this spot,” his deep velvet voice washed over Keith as he tugged on one side of Keith’s shirt, fingers tickling the spot between his collarbone and neck. “Is this ok?”

Keith could only hum an agreement, thankful that his pants were keeping him tightly - though painfully - contained, and that it was dark in their corner of the room. The man had barely touched him and Keith already felt like he might combust on the spot.

Takashi’s fingers moved up along his neck and jaw, settling in front of Keith’s lips, which parted to allow two fingers to slide into his mouth. They tasted vaguely like the drink Takashi had earlier, and he sucked and ran his tongue along them teasingly. As they pulled from his mouth, Keith’s tongue shot out to run along the pads of the fingers.

“Jesus,” Takashi whispered as he ran wet fingers along the spot on Keith’s body he wanted. His other hand pinched salt from the bowl on the table and sprinkled it onto the wet collarbone.

“No, just Keith,” he joked in response, noticing the rasp in his own voice. Takashi gave him a brilliant smile while handing him a glass and a lime wedge to hold before leaning down. At the feel of tongue and lips dancing over his skin, Keith swallowed the moan threatening to escape and grabbed hard onto the table behind him with one hand. If he didn’t come in his pants right in the middle of the bar, Keith would consider it a success. His eyes slipped closed as he fought for control of himself.

After licking every inch of skin that wasn’t covered by Keith’s shirt, Takashi finally took pity on him and reached for the glass in Keith’s left hand. Straightening back to full height, he threw back the shot then looked at Keith – who quickly slipped the lime into Takashi’s mouth.

Seeing the hungry look on Takashi’s face with his pupils blown wide, Keith had never felt more like prey in his entire life. Instead of feeling the need to run though, Keith had an overwhelming urge to lay down and let himself get eaten.

“My turn,” he forced out in a determined rumble, handing Takashi a full glass and lime. Keith wasted no time pushing two fingers into Takashi’s mouth, fighting the urge to focus too long on the feel of his wet heat and slick tongue.  _ God _ , he thought,  _ I bet this guy has a talented mouth _ .

He was aching to feel it everywhere.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand, Keith asked cheekily, “Anywhere?”

Takashi nodded with wide eyes, mouth still full. Keith gave him an evil grin. Revenge was going to taste an awful lot like tequila. Takashi had teased him mercilessly, and Keith desperately wanted to make him feel just as off balance.

Keith watched Takashi’s face as he rucked up the bottom of his shirt, exposing the rippling muscle underneath. Keith has been dying to see these since he’d felt them in the hospital – he wasn’t going to turn down the chance to feel them for himself. He took the lime from Takashi’s hand and settled it between the man’s perfectly straight teeth. Takashi’s free hand quickly came up to hold his own shirt as Keith pulled his fingers free. Keith reached back with his free hand to grab some salt, then used his fist to push against Takashi's chest so he was leaning slightly back against their table.

Keith ran his wet fingers down the middle of Takashi’s stomach, feeling a thrill in his veins as he watched his fingers slide along the ridges of the man's clearly defined abs. Keith was fairly sure if given the chance, he could spend days worshiping them. He’d certainly like to be given the opportunity to try…

He sprinkled the salt liberally along the trail his fingers made and then looked straight at Takashi as he dropped down into a crouch. He grabbed at the man’s trim waist to steady himself and felt Takashi stumble back against the table slightly. 

“ _ Fuck, _ ” Takashi said softly as he exhaled sharply. The obvious effect he was having on the model-perfect man in front of him emboldened Keith further in his task.

Confidence soaring, he leaned forward and mouthed at the hard plane of Takashi’s stomach just above his pants. His chin just  _ barely _ grazed the impressive bulge below and Keith thought he heard a whimper. Then he ran his tongue in a long lick straight up to nip at a tiny belly button, enjoying the sensation of little hairs on the happy trail under his lip and reveling in the exquisite taste of the salt and Takashi’s skin, before continuing to lick and mouth his way north. The feel of muscles clenching under his hands and lips lit a fire in all his dark places. 

Rock hard and panting slightly, Keith stood up quickly, grabbed the shot he was offered and tipped it back quickly. The pupils of Takashi’s eyes were so far blown his eyes were black with lust, and he grinned with the lime between his teeth as an offering. Keith couldn’t resist giving a kitten lick to his bottom lip before stealing the lime with his teeth.

“You’re so gorgeous. I couldn’t stop thinking about you after I left the hospital,” blurted Takashi as he watched Keith slip the lime rind from his mouth. His face was flushed but his eyes were dark with want.

“It would have been ok to lead with that, you know,” Keith whispered in reply. He had the overwhelming urge to climb Takashi like a tree. He realized he still had one hand on Takashi’s waist, so he slid it around to settle on his back, pressing himself fully up against the taller man’s solid body. He could feel how hard Takashi was for him, and it made him dizzy with want.

Suddenly, lips were crushing his own. Keith gave himself over completely, slanting his head to open easily for the greedy wet tongue sliding against his mouth. He wasn’t sure which was more intoxicating, the taste of tequila or Takashi. It might have been both, making him feel like he was floating. Hands fisted in hair and clothes, someone was moaning and Keith vaguely wondered if it was him.

He couldn't bring himself to care, lost in waves of pleasure.

Too soon they broke apart and suddenly, the rest of the universe came crashing back into his senses. The music was loud again and the dim lights from the bar flashed around them. Takashi’s smile was blinding and Keith was sure his face matched.

It wasn’t until Takashi wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned down to nuzzle his neck that Keith remembered they had come to the club with other people.

From over Takashi’s shoulder he caught sight of Allura, who was looking decidedly anywhere but at Keith with a hand over her mouth.

Next to her, Lance’s eyes were wide as saucers and he was making a face Keith imagined was similar to the time his mother caught him watching porn. “Well that escalated quickly,” he snarked. Keith winked at him in response.

“I think we’ll just… leave you to it,” she said before grabbing Lance’s hand and practically running away from the table. Lance laughed wildly and gave him a lecherous grin and a two-fingered salute as he was dragged away.

Keith gazed back up at the godlike creature in his arms. He was afraid to ask the question banging around in his brain, but it just couldn’t be ignored. It would bother him if he didn’t find out. “So why didn’t you try to get ahold of me? Wouldn’t Pidge give up my number?”

“I didn’t think you’d want somebody like me,” Takashi said bashfully.

“Amazingly nice and gorgeous?” Keith scoffed with a smile as he pulled him in tighter. Unable to contain his sarcasm, he added, “You’re right, totally not my type.”

“I didn’t want you to think you had to take care of me. That I wasn’t… whole. You’re so hot – you could have anybody you wanted. Pidge was really angry at me, but I told her not to interfere. You can imagine how well she took that,” he said with a grimace. “I made Allura and Lance wait to try to set us up until I was fully recovered.”

Keith’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d been interested  _ the whole time _ ? And somehow thought  _ Keith _ wouldn’t want  _ him _ ?

“Are you serious?” Keith said loudly. Between the alcohol and whatever Takashi was doing to his brain, his filter had completely fled the building. “I wanted to jump you in your hospital bed! And I liked taking care of you.”

Keith felt the flush heat up his face. He was sure he’d turned bright red at the confession but the buzz in his veins dulled his embarrassment.

“Really?” Takashi beamed at him, lighting up their dark corner of the room.

T he alcohol and Takashi's words giving him courage , Keith murmured, “Come home with me?” 

Takashi hesitated and a burst of panic shot into Keith’s chest.

“I don’t want to ruin this. I’ve been crazy about you since the minute I first saw you. It’s not… a one night thing. You’re special,” Takashi said sweetly, squeezing his sides. The man’s hands were so big they could almost fit completely around his waist, which was good because his words made Keith feel like he might melt completely onto the floor. Takashi’s grey eyes betrayed that he was warring with himself, though. Keith was relieved – it meant he could still convince him not to cut their evening short. “Why don’t we meet up tomorrow? We can get lunch, or — “

“I don’t want just one night either,” interrupted Keith. “That’s not nearly enough time for all the things I want to do to you.”

The thought of this man had tormented him for weeks. There was no way he was going to settle for dreams when the obscenely attractive flesh was right in front of him, wanting him. He grabbed the back of Takashi’s neck, guiding him gently down as he leaned up to his ear to suggest, “Why don’t I go home with you, and I’ll let you take me to breakfast?”

He couldn’t resist taking Takashi’s ear between his teeth to suck and nibble softly. He was hard as stone and if he got turned down, he didn’t know what he would do with himself.

Takashi’s answering groan shot straight down his spine, finding the pool of heat already settled low and setting it ablaze. Dear  _ God _ , he wanted this man to wreck him. With the size of the bulge pressed into his hip, there was a chance it might kill him, but  _ what a way to go _ .

“Let’s go,” Takashi said, his voice dark and deep. “ _ Now _ .”

Keith didn’t need to be told twice. Taking Takashi by the hand, he started weaving them through the crowd to the stairs. When he got to the side of the room and away from the crowd, he stopped short.

“Wait! How did you get here?” Keith asked. “I rode with Lance, and neither of us should probably drive…”

“Already on it,” Takashi said, holding up his phone to flash the app he had open. “Uber should be here in five minutes.”

Keith flashed him a smile. “Excellent.”

 

*****

The incessant sound of his cell phone buzzing woke Keith from his sleep. He silently slipped out of bed, found his pants on the floor and dug the offending machine out of the pocket. 

Glancing quickly at the text messages, he sighed with a smile before tapping a short reply. The phone buzzed immediately with a response and Keith answered before turning off his phone completely.

“This is a nice view to wake up to,” commented a sleep-rough voice from behind him. Keith quickly dropped his phone on top of his pile of clothes on the floor and turned around with a smile.

“Oh, really?” He said as he sauntered back to the bed, completely bare and unabashed, and settled on top of Takashi. Keith could see the prosthetic he had removed at some point sitting on the bedside table. It didn’t really bother Keith, but it was certainly a little jarring at first glance. “And what exactly about the view had your attention?”

“This.” Takashi placed his hand on the curve of Keith’s naked backside and squeezed. Keith moaned softly in response and pressed his hips down on Takashi’s, their cocks rubbing against each other separated only by the thin sheet. “Who’s texting you so early?”

Keith leaned down and gave him a languid kiss, morning breath be damned. “Just Lance. It was all eggplant and peach emojis over and over until I answered.”

Takashi laughed, causing Keith to bounce where he was splayed over his chest. “I’m guessing they figured out we left together.”

“Yeah. I guess Allura tried texting your phone to make sure you got home OK. Since you didn’t answer, Lance assured her I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“Only good things,” Takashi said with a wicked smile. He pulled Keith’s head down and started placing kisses and gentle bites along his jaw and down his neck. “I’d be up for more of those good things…”

“How many times are you going to fuck me before we get out of this bed?” Keith asked with a humorous rasp in his voice.

“As many times as it takes,” Takashi answered, continuing to kiss a trail downward. He tongued at Keith’s collarbone, a deep moan vibrating from his chest in the process.

“As many times as it takes for what?” asked Keith as he squirmed to remove the fabric separating them.

“For you to realize you should never leave my bed.”

It was a solid answer and Keith was sure it deserved some type of response. But with Takashi’s mouth on his body and his hand running down the skin of his side to his thigh, the ability to connect two brain cells together to form something like words just wasn’t possible.

Besides, his bed – or really anywhere Takashi was – sounded like _exactly_ where Keith wanted to be for the foreseeable future.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't help myself with the ending... :D
> 
> This is my first ever attempt at writing anything mildly smutty - feel free to let me know if I did ok!
> 
> And come find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/geek_life13) if you like Sheith too

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I would love to hear what you think!
> 
> Here's where you can visit me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/geek_life13)


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